Director Randolph Hall, and student co-authors Annicka Caprariello and Amber Patel have published a new paper in Worldviews and Values in Higher Education that addresses a major stress point for universities today: What are the limits to academic freedom? Universities have historically stated academic freedom in research and scholarship as core values. Nevertheless, in the pursuit of funding, many universities grant exceptions in sponsored research agreements that restrict publication rights. Examples include national security limitations (e.g., classified research, controlled-unclassified information), proprietary restrictions (e.g., protection of data or commercializable technology), or reputation protection (entities that do not want research released if it harms their image). In the pursuit of research funding, individual faculty may advocate for acceptance of restrictive contract language, even when it means sacrificing their own academic freedom in publication, sometimes arguing that academic freedom includes the right for faculty to accept restrictions. The article examines the tension in universities among satisfying the desires of individual faculty to fund research projects, serving the needs of sponsors, and fulfilling the values of academic freedom. The authors present historical milestones and compare policies enacted at highly ranked research universities in the United States.
Posted March 31, 2025